How to Choose the Best MP3 Player For You

MP3 players are a highly personal and highly customizable bits of gadgetry. There is a player for just about everyone with every kind of lifestyle. When do you listen to music? How much music do you have? No matter the answers to these questions, here’s how to choose the best MP3 player for you.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Consider your price range. How much can you spend on an MP3 player? This will immediately narrow the field. But don’t feel compelled to max out your card.

2. Check the storage space. How much music do you have? Do you think you’d listen to all of it on your MP3 player?

3. Look at the special features. If you work out or play hard, you might want a splash-resistant player, or at least a waterproof skin to cover it.

4. Consider a video feature. One justification for an enlarged hard drive is if you want to store pictures and video on your portable media player.

5. Consider radio options. There are some players that will both receive FM radio stations as well as broadcast a station to your radio through which you can play MP3s in your car.

6. Take a test drive. Go to your local store and try out the controls, bring some headphones for a listen and see how you like handling and carrying the MP3 player.

7. Shop around online. Internet shopping can very often meet or beat local prices, and it allows you to check many vendors in a very short amount of time.

Tips & Warnings

• Check to make sure you’ve got the right kind of ports for the cables that come with your player, and that the software that comes with it (if any) is also compatible with your operating system.
• Don’t steal MP3s. Download your music legally, and pay for it when you do.
• If you’ve got a Mac, be careful about buying anything but an iPod. Many non-iPod players are not compatible with Mac computers.